


Scent

by minzimpression



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-13 07:39:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5700373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minzimpression/pseuds/minzimpression
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phasma notices something.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scent

**Author's Note:**

> I am deep in the trash can and don't know how to get out. I don't even want to get out.

Phasma almost stops when she enters the bridge. There are only a few people up here. It’s the night shift and there’s a skeleton crew. The general is also present and that’s what had her almost stopping. After their meeting a few hours ago, he’d said that he was retiring early today. Phasma realized then that he did actually look tired.

And that is a new one.

You can never, never read him. He’s always the impeccable commander of the Finalizer. You never know what he thinks, he’s always alert. He’s a master strategist. Phasma respects him for that and she’s proud that she was chosen to serve under him. He’s a good leader and she hopes that some time he will bring order in the galaxy again. Preferably the First Order.

“Captain,” Hux says when she goes to stand next to him. He has his hands crossed behind his back and is staring at the planet they’re currently orbiting. He looks a bit lost and thoughtful. It’s quite disturbing. He senses that she’s staring and straightens even more. She’s surprised that this is even possible.

“Is there something you wanted, Captain?” Hux asks and looks up at her. She wonders if he hates it. Looking up at her. But he’s never shown any sign that he doesn’t like it. Always so neutral. 

“I just make my rounds, Sir. I didn’t get enough exercise today,” she says and Hux nods.

“Continue then,” he looks away from her and looks at the stars again.

Phasma almost asks if everything is alright. And then she reminds herself, who this man is. She doesn’t want to lose her position.

So she just nods.

“General.”

“Captain.”

She turns but this time has to stop. Hux took off his hat and is now running his right hand through his hair. 

There’s a scent in the air. 

It smells lovely.

It’s pine wood and cedar and bayberry. It’s like the Finalizer suddenly is on Endor. In the middle of the forest. That’s the first time on this ship that she’s glad she left her helmet behind, just because she’s able to smell something like that.

But where is it coming from? 

She nods at the general one last time and makes her way off the bridge. 

The smell doesn’t follow.

~+~

She smells it again when she’s lifting weights. It hits her with full force and she almost drops the weight on her chest.

With a grunt, she puts the weights back in a safe position and looks up. General Hux is a few feet away from her, doing push-ups. Another thing that she respects him for. He has his own workout routine and despite being the commander of the Finalizer he uses the shared gym and not the private officer’s gym (just like her).

Even when he’s working out, he still looks perfectly composed. He keeps a straight face and the only signs that he’s actually struggling are the sweat glistening on his skin and a few strands of loose hair framing his face. (It’s the only time she sees his hair a bit out of place)

Phasma hates it when she doesn’t understand something. And feeling like she’s taking a run on Endor while her superior is around…that is something she doesn’t understand at all.

She’s been around him a few times since that night on the bridge. In meetings… when he inspected her troops…she never smelled it.

Until now.

Phasma takes a big swig from her water bottle and pretends to look over at the other sets of weights, considering which ones she should choose. But in reality she’s watching the general.

Hux seems to be done with his push-ups and stands up. He takes a towel, rubs it over his forehead and damp hair, shakes the towel and folds it again.

There’s the scent again.

It’s his fucking hair.

It’s shampoo.

Phasma stands up and picks up the weights she has worked with to bring them over to the weight stand.

Strange. 

Hux never smells like anything at all. He doesn’t seem to prefer any strong cologne or aftershave; he really lives that neutral vibe.

So why...?

“Are you done, Lord Ren?” Hux suddenly says and Phasma notices that Kylo Ren is standing in the corner, just standing there doing nothing like the creeper he is.

Ren tenses and Phasma decides to leave. Watching how Ren destroys good gym equipment in a fit is tragic and she doesn’t want to see this. 

She packs her things and goes. When she passes Ren, she can hear the mechanical breathing from the mask. 

That mask is unsettling.

~+~

She’s on Starkiller base for a few weeks.

General Hux is there too, supervising her supervising.

She doesn’t smell anything at all.

~+~

She smells it on him again when they are in a meeting a few days after returning to the Finalizer.

~+~

“Sir, we have to evacuate immediately,” she tells Kylo Ren while the flames are burning in the background.

That little mission has gone spectacularly wrong and she hopes Kylo Ren won’t destroy their shuttle because it’s definitely his fault that things went wrong.

She sure as hell won’t tell Hux what happened here when they’re back on the Finalizer. It’s all Ren’s fault. She’s lost a few Stormtroopers because of him. Quite good ones, actually. 

This useless hunt after some old Jedi….

They make it to the shuttle and she’s sitting down quietly opposite of Ren, taking off her helmet because it did get rather hot back there.

To her utter surprise Ren is fiddling with his helmet too. She turns to FN-2199 and asks for an update on the surviving Stormtroopers. FN-2199 gets the hint and answers. He doesn’t spare Ren a glance.

While listening to FN-2199, she can hear how the helmet and the mask come off and then the sound of someone taking a deep breath. 

“Captain,” 

A surprisingly dark and rich voice. She turns again, looks at him and doesn’t blink when she’s confronted with a handsome face that looks younger than she would have thought.

But it’s not the face that surprises her. It’s the almost perfect looking,soft hair that spills over his ears, framing his collar. Especially the scent that fills the air. The scent of shampoo. Shampoo that smells like pinewood, cedar and bayberry.

And she knows.

“I will take responsibility for what happened down there. As soon as we’re on the Finalizer again, I will report to General Hux.”

 _Oh, I fucking bet you are_ , Phasma thinks.

Her face remains impassive and she just nods, looking the other way.

There’s a reason she climbed the career ladder almost as fast as Hux.

She’s smart.

Smarter than Hux, probably.

Because who the hell fucks an unstable user of the Dark Force and then apparently washes his hair with said user’s shampoo?

But she stifles that thought as quickly as she can. It’s not her business what the respected general does in his free time. And she shouldn’t judge when Ren is in such close proximity. She doesn’t think that he ever attempted to read her mind, but who knows…

She values her life, thank you very much.

(When she’s ordered to Hux’s personal quarters 8 hours later, he doesn’t have his hat on. The smell of a rich forest tickles her nose again. Hux looks relaxed and doesn’t want her head for a mission gone wrong. _Maybe_ , she thinks. _Maybe it isn’t a bad thing. Maybe it’s exactly what Hux needs._ )

**Author's Note:**

> this pairing is taking over my life. i love it. also, phasma love!
> 
> say hi on  my [tumblr](http://minzimpression.tumblr.com)


End file.
